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The UK's only independent think tank devoted to higher education.

Blog

The HEPI Blog aims to make brief, incisive contributions to the higher education policy landscape. It is circulated to our subscribers and published online. We welcome guest submissions, which should follow our Instructions for Blog Authors. Submissions should be sent to our Blog Editor, Josh Freeman, at [email protected].

  • Evidence should replace dogma in the debate about the STEM shortage

    2 April 2019 by Dean Machin

    A guest blog kindly contributed by Dean Machin, Strategic Policy Adviser at the University of Portsmouth David Hume, it is said, awoke Immanuel Kant from his dogmatic slumbers. We might all aspire to have similar effects but most of us will fail. However, Professor Emma Smith’s and Dr Patrick White’s Nuffield Foundation…

  • Data decisions: What information do we need about Universities?

    1 April 2019 by Rachel Hewitt

    Last week the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) published their consultation on the future of the data it collects, in response to their changing role as the designated data body. To me, this exemplified the change in the way higher education regulation has changed since the Higher Education Research Act…

  • Whose voice is heard in higher education?

    29 March 2019 by Professor Tom Sperlinger

    A guest blog kindly contributed by Tom Sperlinger, Professor of Literature and Engaged Pedagogy at the University of Bristol. He is also the co-author of Who are universities for? Recently, I was talking to an academic colleague who I have known for more than 10 years – and who I had always…

  • Why a grade threshold for higher education study is neither necessary or defensible

    28 March 2019 by Greg Walker

    A guest blog kindly contributed by Dr Greg Walker, Chief Executive of MillionPlus, the Association for Modern Universities. Iain Mansfield, sets out in his HEPI blog (26 March) a defence of limiting access to a university education according to a minimum threshold of grade attainment (DDD at A Level, or…

  • Seeking simple solutions to complex problems: The careers conundrum

    27 March 2019 by Mike Grey

    This is a guest blog kindly contributed by Mike Grey, Head of University Partnerships at Gradconsult. In recent years the policy spotlight has been shining on careers and employability provision. Graduate destination metrics heavily influence Teaching Excellence Framework outcomes and league table positions. This part of the institutional offer plays a…

  • Comparing a Numbers Cap with an Attainment Threshold

    26 March 2019 by Iain Mansfield

    Imagine you’re the President of Universities UK. You’ve been invited to a private meeting at No. 11, where the Chancellor informs you that he has decided to control the numbers entering UK higher education. No, he cuts you off as you protest, the decision is made, the Cabinet on side,…

  • Response to Anthony Seldon’s call for reform to UUK

    25 March 2019 by Roger Brown

    This is a guest blog kindly contributed by Roger Brown former Vice-Chancellor of Southampton Solent University. He was previously Chief Executive of the Higher Education Quality Council, Chief Executive of the Committee of Directors of Polytechnics, and Secretary of the Polytechnics and Colleges Funding Council. As the only person, so…

  • Shakira Martin on Widening participation

    22 March 2019 by Shakira Martin

    This is a guest blog based on the speech Shakira Martin gave at HEPI/Advance HE’s House of Commons seminar on Widening Participation.  Widening participation in education and improving social mobility have been central issues of focus throughout my, now almost two year, presidency of the National Union of Students (NUS).…

  • Response to HEPI’s International Students research from Shadow Higher and Further Education Minister, Gordon Marsden MP

    21 March 2019 by Gordon Marsden MP

    Responding to the Higher Education Policy Institute and Kaplan International Pathways research commissioned from London Economics on the financial contributions of international students, Shadow Higher and Further Education Minister Gordon Marsden MP said: “Today’s report underlines everything Labour and the sector have been saying about the vital contribution international students’…

  • Has Derry’s time come? The case for expanding HE in Northern Ireland’s second city

    20 March 2019 by Jonny Roberts

    A guest blog contributed by Jonny Roberts, Associate Editor at Westminster Forum Projects where he previously led the Westminster Higher Education Forum and was involved in the launch of the Policy Forum for Northern Ireland. He writes here in a personal capacity.  When Lord Adonis recently took his one-man anti-Brexit…